Report: North Korea executed six for leaking phone numbers

North Korea is heightening measures to prevent the leak of North Korean state phone numbers to the outside world, according to a South Korean press report. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

April 20 (UPI) --North Korea may be struggling to keep its population in compliance with strict authoritarian rule, according to sources in the country who say there's evidence of executions and a reduction in food bonuses.

A high-ranking North Korean official who requested anonymity told Daily NK on Friday the regime has stepped up enforcement of "internal information security" following the attempted leak of government telephone numbers in 2017.

The numbers belonging to military and other government agencies were about to be leaked to a foreign contact, and six people linked to the attempt were executed last year, Daily NK's source said.

Authorities are particularly concerned because the leak took place in Pyongyang, where many of North Korea's favored elites live.